One Piece: Blue Scale Admiral

Once the situation calmed down, Rorschach asked, "So, you want to join our navy?"

"Join the Navy?" Yamato was a little confused, but still said firmly, "I don't know. If you need me, I can become a Navyman, as long as you promise to help me drive Kaido out of Wano Country."

"Okay. But I've made it clear, although Kaido is our Navy's enemy, defeating him won't be easy, and we might not be able to act anytime soon. And if you agree to join the Navy, you can't be as willful as before; from now on, you'll have to follow orders from above. Do you agree?"

Luo Xia thought for a moment and then explained it to Yamato seriously.

Yamato lowered his head and didn't speak, only nodding silently.

"Alright, from now on you'll be a soldier in my G5. But for now, you'll have to stay here. As for when, we'll have to wait for your instructions."

After saying that, Luo Xia turned and left.

But he had only taken two steps when Yamato called him back.

"Hey!"

"Is there anything else?" Luo Xia turned his head in confusion.

Yamato's gaze was fixed on the bracelet on his wrist, and he said stubbornly, "I want one of those bracelets. If you don't give it to me, I won't join the Navy!"

"Huh?" Luo Xia looked puzzled.

Chapter 689 Candidate for Fleet Admiral

In the blink of an eye, half a month later.

After a period of rest, Luo Xia's injuries have mostly healed.

He originally wanted to return to the New World to oversee G5.

The Impel Down escape resulted in over two hundred notorious criminals, including Barrett, returning to the sea. Coupled with the annihilation of the Whitebeard Pirates, the world is now plunged into a new round of chaos.

This is especially true in the New World.

Apart from a few older criminals who had lost interest in the power struggle, none of the escaped prisoners were the type to endure loneliness.

According to information from the New World, both Whitebeard's territory, which is no longer under Whitebeard's control, and the territories of the other Four Emperors have fallen into chaos to varying degrees.

The navy in the New World was also affected to varying degrees as a result.

Enel, Hibari, and Law have already taken Drake, Smoker, and the others back to the New World.

Luo Xia wanted to go along, but Sengoku stopped him, saying that he might need to discuss something with him later.

Luo Xia was just beginning to guess that the matter Sengoku was discussing was his formal promotion to Admiral.

Unexpectedly, Sengoku said no, adding that the officers who had made meritorious contributions in this war and were eligible for promotion might not be promoted immediately in the short term.

Because Marineford was reduced to ruins, their navy will need to spend a considerable amount of time rebuilding it.

Therefore, the ceremony for awarding medals and commendations will be postponed for some time and may be held together with the upcoming global conscription.

It wasn't until today, when Brannew came to inform him to attend the highest decision-making meeting of the Navy Headquarters, that Rorschach learned why Sengoku had kept him behind.

Sengoku is about to abdicate, and the Navy Headquarters needs to elect a new Fleet Admiral.

When Rorschach followed Brannew to the temporary base conference room in Marineford, he heard Sengoku's furious roar even before entering the room.

"What did you say? The World Government wants our Navy to help cover up the news that Impel Down was breached by prisoners? Are you kidding me?! Do you know how heinous the criminals who escaped were? The prisoners held in Infinite Hell had bounties of at least 100 million, and that was over a decade ago!"

A blunt young voice followed, saying indifferently, "I don't care about that. I'm just relaying the Five Elders' orders. Your navy has no right to refuse."

"No! The list of escapees from Impel Down must be released. We can't let innocent people around the world pay the price for our mistakes. Besides bringing these escapees back as soon as possible, we must also let the public know the truth in advance to avoid provoking those villains. I'm going to speak with the Five Elders and tell them to abandon this irresponsible order!"

"Irresponsible? Are you questioning the adults' decisions? Sengoku, watch your attitude!"

Rorschach listened intently at the door, clicking his tongue in disbelief.

He smiled slightly, revealing an innocent-looking smile, and stepped into the conference hall, heading straight for the man standing in front of Sengoku, dressed in white with a pigeon in a small suit perched on his shoulder.

"So who has the audacity to speak to our marshal like that? It's you, Lu Qi."

He walked over to Lucci, gently raised his right hand, and placed it on Lucci's shoulder.

Rorschach's actions seemed casual, and he even had a happy smile on his face as he saw an old acquaintance, but in Lucci's mind, it was a real humiliation.

Lu Qi's face twitched as he turned to look at Luo Xia, but due to the height difference, he had to look up. This made the arrogance in his eyes and the coldness on his face look like a child rebelling against his parents during puberty, causing strange expressions to appear on the faces of everyone sitting in the conference hall.

Seeing the bright smile on Luo Xia's face, Lucci really wanted to punch Luo Xia in the face and smash that annoyingly handsome face to pieces.

He parted his lips, about to tell Luo Xia to remove his hand, when he felt an irresistible, terrifying force emanating from the slender hand that was gently resting on his shoulder. This caused his muscles to tense and goosebumps to rise on his skin, almost causing him to transform into a leopard-man right there and then.

This feeling of impending doom made him swallow back what he wanted to say, and his face immediately darkened.

Rorschach patted him on the shoulder like an old friend and teased, "Oh, no wonder you're so arrogant. So you got promoted. I didn't expect you to be so lucky. You suffered a defeat at the hands of the Straw Hat Boy, but instead of being punished, you got promoted and went from CP9 to CP0."

As he spoke, Rorschach reached out and teased the pigeon perched on Lucci's shoulder.

The pigeon wasn't shy at all. It stretched out its fluffy little head and rubbed against Luo Xia's fingers, then pecked at Luo Xia's hand with its beak. Then it tilted its head and looked at Luo Xia with its big black eyes, as if looking at him curiously, which made Luo Xia smile.

He scratched the white dove's chin with the pad of his index finger and chuckled, "Come on, little dove, tell me, has Lu Qi been talking badly about me behind my back?"

Upon hearing Luo Xia's words, even Sengoku, whose eyes were filled with anger, had a strange expression.

That's a pigeon, not a parrot. Rorschach is talking to a pigeon; does he expect the pigeon to respond?

And Rob Lucci, who just moments ago was so arrogant and didn't even respect him, the Fleet Admiral, was now completely speechless in front of Rorschach. This made Sengoku sigh, "Truly, there's always someone who can subdue another."

Just as Sengoku was thinking this, he saw the pigeon on Lucci's shoulder coo twice and then open its beak and speak.

"Yeah, Lucci said that one day I'll beat that brat so young he'll be a pig's head and he'll have nightmares every time he sees me. What's with all the arrogance a little brat has? When I become the commander of CP0, I won't hesitate to scold him, even if he's just a lowly vice admiral, or even an admiral or a fleet admiral. Hmph, once my Devil Fruit awakens, I'll avenge myself and make that brat pay for the humiliation he inflicted on me tenfold!"

"Hahaha, Lucci, I didn't expect you to be so good at daydreaming, besides being sharp-tongued. Very good, thank you, you've provided all my laughs for today." Before Luo Xia could finish listening, he couldn't hold back and patted Lucci on the shoulder, bursting into laughter.

Lu Qi's face, however, was as black as the bottom of a pot.

He didn't want to stay there for even a second longer, so he turned around and left, disappearing quickly through the doorway.

Rorschach didn't stop him, but just put his hands in his pockets and shouted at his departing back, "I'm waiting for your Devil Fruit to awaken so you can avenge yourself, Lucci. You'd better do your best. I believe in you."

No sooner had Lucci left than several chuckles broke out in the conference room.

Rorschach turned his head and saw Sengoku, sitting in the main seat, shaking his head and laughing. "Rorschach, you should at least give him some face. Rob Lucci is known as the strongest genius in CP9 in eight hundred years. I think he'll become the highest-ranking official in CP0 sooner or later. According to the rank standards within the World Government, that's equivalent to a governor-general. And because CP0 is directly under the highest authority, he can indeed do whatever he wants within the World Government."

"Walking sideways? He's a leopard, not a crab. Why would he walk sideways? Does he have a hernia?"

Luo Xia pursed his lips, walked to the seating area, and randomly found a seat to sit down.

As soon as he sat down, the person next to him put their arm around his shoulder.

Dark Horse, whom he hadn't seen for over a year, warmly put his arm around his shoulder and said with a mischievous grin, "Rorschach, I didn't expect you to have such a sharp tongue. Who taught you that? I remember Sakazuki wasn't very talkative. Tell me, did you manage to fool that little girl, Lark, with your silver tongue?"

Luo Xia broke free from his tugging and glanced at the black horse with a look of disdain. "Do you think I'm not handsome enough, or not strong enough? I have so many advantages that I can't even count them all. I don't think I need to rely on words to win a girl's heart."

"You little brat..." Black Horse was speechless.

Luo Xia's boasting brought a kind and gentle smile to the face of Granny He sitting opposite him.

"Alright, alright, I didn't call you all here for idle chatter. Now that everyone's here, let's get down to business."

Sengoku tapped the table to quiet everyone down.

Rorschach glanced around and saw that the people attending the meeting included Sengoku, Akainu, Kizaru, Aokiji, Vice Admiral Tsuru, Kuroba, himself, and Brannew, who was in charge of taking meeting minutes.

Apart from him, everyone present could indeed be considered part of the highest decision-making body of the Navy Headquarters.

But where did Garp go?

Sengoku coughed and looked at everyone, saying in a deep voice, "I called you all here to inquire about the selection of the new Fleet Admiral."

"I am getting old and my energy is not what it used to be. I know that I can no longer continue to serve as the Admiral of the Navy. It is time to hand over the position of Admiral who commands the entire navy to someone more outstanding and younger."

His gaze swept across the faces of Aokiji, Kizaru, Akainu, and Rorschach, and he said, "The preliminary candidates for Fleet Admiral are the four of you: Kuzan, Borsalino, Sakazuki, and Rorschach."

"Huh? Did I hear that right?"

As soon as Sengoku finished speaking, Luo Xia, who had just sat down, showed a look of astonishment on his face, staring at Sengoku in disbelief.

Lieutenant General Tsuru smiled gently and said, "Luo Xia, it seems you are quite surprised?"

"Of course! This is a candidate for Fleet Admiral! I could accept a candidate for Admiral, but what the hell is Fleet Admiral? I'm still a Vice Admiral, Grandma. Aren't Fleet Admirals only selected from among the Governors-General?"

Luo Xia was indeed very shocked. He never expected that he would be able to participate in the competition for the marshal position.

This was truly beyond his expectations.

Chapter 690 Akainu and Aokiji: Clashing Forces

"Who told you that the selection of a marshal must be made from among the governors?"

Black Horse looked at Luo Xia with a smile.

He enjoyed seeing Rorschach lose his composure.

"Isn't that right? As far as I know, all previous admirals of the navy were selected from the ranks of governor-general, that is, admiral and above. Weren't the previous admirals, and even the old man Sengoku, admirals of the navy before they became admirals?" Luo Xia asked rhetorically.

"They were indeed promoted from admirals to marshals, but that does not mean that naval officers who are not admirals are not eligible to run for office."

Lieutenant General Tsuru provided an explanation.

It turns out that in addition to the marshals themselves and the admirals, the other eligible candidates for the selection of a naval admiral include the chief of the general staff and naval officers with sufficient strength and prestige.

For example, Vice Admiral Tsuru was actually qualified to compete for the position of Fleet Admiral, but she gave it up.

It's easy to understand why naval commanders with sufficient strength and prestige are also included.

"When I became Fleet Admiral, Zephyr and Garp were also qualified to compete with me for the position, but they both chose to give it up. Zephyr was an Admiral, but Garp, he wasn't."

Sengoku looked at Rorschach and said, "You are now an exception, much like Garp was back then. Although you are still a vice admiral, your personal strength has reached the admiral level, coupled with your powerful prestige and huge influence worldwide, you are qualified to be a candidate for the Fleet Admiral."

"So that's how it is."

After listening to the explanations from several people, Luo Xia finally understood.

Seeing that Luo Xia suddenly fell silent, Black Horse couldn't help but reach out and nudge him on the shoulder, laughing, "How about it? Interested in vying for the position of marshal? Treat me to a meal, and I'll vote for you. I think you have a good chance of being elected. After all, you've already taken down both Golden Lion and Whitebeard. Now, on the high seas, someone has given you a new nickname: Legendary Assassin, who specializes in killing legendary pirates."

"What a lame nickname." Luo Xia's lips twitched, and he looked around at the crowd with a puzzled expression. "How is the position of Fleet Admiral selected? Is there really a vote? I've never heard of that."

“It used to be like that,” Sengoku said. “Back when the commander-in-chief was in charge, there was a system of voting for the selection of the marshal. Each of the officers of the rank of brigadier general and above could cast one vote for several candidates who were eligible for selection. Whoever received the most votes naturally meant that the candidate had the highest prestige in the navy, and of course, could secure the position of marshal.”

"So, there's no vote now?" Rorschach asked, puzzled.

The Warring States period nodded.